ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Saturday morning.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $45.50 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.67.

ServisFirst Bancshares Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:SFBS opened at $43.98 on Friday. ServisFirst Bancshares has a 52-week low of $33.60 and a 52-week high of $46.04. The stock has a market cap of $4.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.98 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $43.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.77.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78. ServisFirst Bancshares had a return on equity of 17.42% and a net margin of 30.95%.The firm had revenue of $168.53 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.85 million. Equities analysts predict that ServisFirst Bancshares will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 1st were given a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 1st. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.94%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ServisFirst Bancshares

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares during the second quarter valued at $670,908,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,081,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $436,623,000 after purchasing an additional 196,248 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 8,886.1% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,162,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $447,854,000 after buying an additional 5,105,128 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,463,986 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $176,890,000 after buying an additional 82,912 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,133,669 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $82,565,000 after buying an additional 10,008 shares during the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ServisFirst Bancshares Company Profile

ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, and the parent of ServisFirst Bank. The company specializes in commercial banking services, catering primarily to small and mid-sized businesses, professionals and entrepreneurs. Its product portfolio encompasses commercial real estate lending, commercial and industrial loans, deposit accounts, treasury management and other ancillary banking products designed to meet the financial needs of its clients.

ServisFirst Bank offers a full suite of deposit products, including interest-bearing checking, money market accounts and certificates of deposit, as well as a variety of loan products.